DH-Humanist-Comment-February-2011

Humanist Comment No.22 Dorset Humanists ~ February 2011 Darwin‟s Autobiography - 1876— unabridged “The clearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is supported. The more we know of the fixed laws of nature, the more incredible do miracles become but the men of the time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us … I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation... “Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete….[and] I have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct”…. “The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic”. ( These passages and many others, were edited out by Darwin’s wife, Emma and son Francis in 1887 five years after his death in 1882.—but they were reinserted for the complete autobiography, by his grand-daughter Nora Barlow in 1959. ) See over for extracts from ―The Descent of Man‖ on social morality. Darwin‟s Dangerous Idea Fight the Good Fight Surely, with Darwin Day days away, it‟s time Blair v Hitchens now, to examine what exactly Darwin did in (From the Observer 28.11.10) 1859, and why it was, and still is, so important to Atheist Christopher Hitchens and Catholic our understanding of our world and existence. ...